What goes bump
by Skylight21
Summary: Jay Jennifer starts having trouble sleeping, it soon turns into something she unexpected, but her best friend Layne is by her side through it all.
1. Chapter 1

Waking up in a cold sweat was starting to become my norm. I kept having the same feeling every night, that someone was watching me. Its like mid dream everything just stops and my eyes blaze open and my body subconsciously shoots up and im already gasping for air, my body just does it on reflex i have no control over it anymore. But sitting there in the blackness of my room with only the clock blinking 3:37 like every night before it always said the same thing, I was starting to think that it was broken. I laid back down and tried to close my eyes but they were glued open, all I could do was lay there and stare at the ceiling watching the occasional reflection of car lights on the ceiling. I didnt bother looking at the clock anymore for the fear that it still might read 3:37.

Dragging my feet out of my truck I almost tripped myself. There was only a few people in the parking lot but they all got unamused by me falling a couple days after I started here. I breifly looked up to grunt at the big woden sign stating Welcome to Honey Springs. I had barely slept in the last 2 weeks I am starting to run out of steam. My hood was lunked over my head to help block the sun, my eyes were starting to become light sensitive. The last few weeks have been unusually sunny for Honey Springs, the weather here is normally gloomy and dreadfull but lately it has been seemingly beautiful. I would probably enjoy it more if I could sleep, I wouldn't be like a walking zombie. There is only so much more I can take on so little sleep, all of the laughing every time I walk into something is making that threshold shorter and shorter. My last class of the day I didnt even make it through. I could no longer concentrate on school. The only thing on my mind was my bed. I left my truck in the school parking lot and decided to walk home, Id rather not kill someone because I cant sleep at night. I made it about 3 blocks from the school when I fell to my knees. my legs would take me no further. I had nothing left, my engine was stopping right here. I moved enough so I was propped up on the fence that lined the sidewalk infront of the house I almost collapsed infront of. I held my head on my arms and just sat there trying to muster up the strength to walk another 2 blocks. I started to wonder if my sleepless nights were trying to tell me something. My own personal apocolypse? Did I have a medical issue? Or was I just thinking about something to hard my brain wont shut off.. I couldn't come up with an answer. After sitting on the sidewalk for about 20 minutes I tried to get up. I had enough strength to stand, now lets see how far my feet will take me before I fall again. My phone rang in my pocket, I normally like my ringtone but right now I wanted to break my phone, it was loud, high pitched and very annoying. I puled it out to see a mesage from Layne the message read, _'Where are you, your truck is here but your not!' _I smiled a little when i realized someone noticed that I was missing. Layne and I were friends even before I came back to Honey Springs. I responded, "_I am stumbling home, didnt sleep again last night. Didn't feel safe enough to drive home' _ It didnt take long before i got an answer back, '_I'll catch up with you' _Won't be to hard I thought to myself. I was about a block away from my house when my legs gave out again, this time I knew it was different, i didnt even have the strength to move my arms to prop myself up. All I could do was lay there.

"Jay!" I could hear Layne running towards me, but I still couldnt move. "Jay are you okay?" He rolled me over and I just looked at him, "What happened?" His hand found the side of my face,

"I fell, I dont have enough strengt to get up this time, I fell about a black back and I had to sit there to gain some strength back" I realized that I was fighting back tears, "I just want to go home" I closed my eyes and a tear escaped my grasp. Layne leaned down and hugged me,

"Jay it's okay, I'll get you home alright" He held my shoulders with one arm and my legs with the other and carried me the rest of the way home. I didn't want my mom to see him carrying me, "Stop wiggling, I'm going to drop you" Layne was trying not to laugh as I tried to flop around,

"Put me down, I ddont want my mom to see this" He put me on the ground and wrapped my arm around his shoulder so he could still support me, I opened the door and heard nothing but creaks coming from the living room, multiple voices... Again. "Great, my mom is working again" I rolled my eyes. They felt like they were going to get stuck, Layne started walking to the stairs so we could go to my bedroom. As soon as I saw the clock I wanted to throw up. "What time does the clock say?" All te blood felt like it drained from my face,

"2:30 why?" Layne was as confused as all hell, he was starting to sound worried,

"Nothing, dont worry about it." I shook my head, the clock once again said 3:37. What the hell was going on here? We sat on my bed, I laid backwards on my pillow, I could tell that Layne was about to leave, "Hey" I was barely whispering, "Please don't leave, if I know my mom she's on something and there is a strange man in my living room, please don't leave me" Those tears were about to start breaking the surface again. I didn;t know what else to do, I had no strength to do anything else. The a moment the sky darkened and my eyes stopped hurting, I thought it was going to stay dark, but within seconds the sun was beaming through my window again. I squinted to let as little light through as possible, I didnt even have to say anything, Layne got up to close the curtains. I could no longer hold back the tears. Two weeks this has been going on, no sleep, seemless days and nights, the clock agonizing always reading 3:37. I didn;t know what else to do except cry, I was breaking.

"Jay what is wrong, talk to me" He laid down beside me proped up on his elbow so he could see my face. I could tell he was worried, concerned, and frightened. He has never seen me like this before.

"Layne, I dont know how to explain it. Every time I close my eyes i get this over whelming feeling that someone is watching me, and my eyes just open, I can't help it. Once that happens the clock seems to be glued on 3:37. That's why I asked. I don't know what else to do. I've tried pills, I've tried everything except alcohol, and I dont drink you know that. Please help me" I sat up and just couldn't hold it in anymore, I broke down, my hands craddled my frangile face as tears seemed to just stream out of my eyes. Layne moved so he was beside me again, his arms felt warm against my cold skin, it felt good, my head found his chest, his hand found the side of my face again. We sat there slowly rocking back and forth for a while, the tears seemed endless.

"I'll stay Jay, just say the words" His voice was meaningful and soft, but I was speechless, I just nodded and he got the message. Once the streams stopped running from my eyes, I actually felt tired, like every night, the difference was could I actually sleep. When I laid down, Layne left the room, I don't know where he went but I didn't feel as comfortable, once again like something was watching me. The clock flashed but this time it read 3:12. At least it wasn't the same. When Layne came back he had a sandwich and water. "You need to eat missy" I wanted the water first, my mouth felt like there was coton balls in it. The glass was empty and the sandwich looked delicious.

"Thank you" I grabbed his hand and just loked at him, like really looked at him. His gorgeous ice blue eyes were smiling with the rest of his face, his dirty blond hair was still spiked from school, he hasn't gone home yet. His eyes just dug into me, I couldn't help it. He was my best friend, has been since we were 4. When I realized what time it actually was i remembered something, "You are going to miss you football practice" I tried to sit up but he wouldnt let me.

"Jay it's alright, I can miss one practice" His smile was radiant. He laid down next to me, I was quick to cuddle up to him. I laid my head on his chest and wrapped my arm around him. I could feel his warm arm on my back, it made me shudder. His heart beat would quicken every time i moved. I closed my eyes and I did end up falling asleep, I was asleep for maybe 4 hours when I had the feeling I was being watched. My body shot up and once again I was left gasping for air. My gasping was loud enough to wake up Layne, "Jay are you okay?" He was looking around, for anything that wasn't supposed to be in the room. But I knew where it was coming from, the window. it moves from window to window, one night i would be from the street window, the next the forest window.

"I'm fine, I felt it again" I didn't want to look at the clock, "What time is it?" I took in a deep breath waiting for the answer,

"3:38" He said no more, I let out my breath, He laid back down pulling me with him, I did eventually fall back asleep, with some assistance. Layne rubbed my back until I was asleep. The next time I woke up it was because there was a loud breaking noise from dowstairs. I heard what sounded like a bottle and a scream. I got out of bed with Layne on my heels to catch me if needed, I got to the stairs and wasn't sure if the guy was still here, "Let me go first" whispering we slowly crept down that stairs. He lifted his hand telling me to stop when we got to the bottom. The kitchen light was on, I could see my moms showdow, then the male voice came in,

"Get out now!" My mom screamed again, "Get out! You are done here now GET OUT!" there was another smash, that one was full. Layne grabbed my hand and we crept to the kitchen,

"What are you going to do? You are alost out of wine bottles baby. I still got 200$ worth, Maybe your daughter would like it this time. I could ust imagine that pretty face" His voice was smug, Layne tightened his grip on my hand the same time I did. I am so happy he stayed now,

"Dont you dare touch my daughter" My mother was drunk I could hear her having trouble talking, "Your business is with me not her" We were peeking in the kitchen now, The man was about 5 feet from my mom, he was only wearing boxers and my mom the same only in her underwear. He was about to turn towards the door when she stepped to him, "I mean it do not touch my daughter" She grabbed his shoulder,

"Are you going to stop me?" His smug voice made me want to throw up. Silence fell throughout the house. There was a loud smash that came from my room. My mom and the guy looked in our direction and we ducked behind the wall. I immediately felt uncomfortable, something was watching me again. I tightened even more on Layne's hand. "I didnt think so" The man turned towards the door again and started walking our way,

"She might not be able to stop you but I can, and will" Layne stood up and put his hand infront of him to stop the guy from walking any farther, "I think it's time that you leave" Layne's voice was stern, he wasn;t messing around.

"What are you going to do Junior?" He looked Layne up and down and just laughed, They were about the same size but I didn;t want this to turn into a fight. "Exactly, now i' going to finish my business here so get out of my way" The mans hands thrust towards Layne's shoulders and shoved him back. I could hear my mom in the kitchen stumbling towards the man, "Woman you touch me and you get it" He turned halfway to threaten her, Layne took advantage of it. He tackled the man to the ground and held him there,

"You do not threaten women. Did you not grow up with manners?" The man was struggling against his grip, He must be on something to, because this wouldn't be so one sided if he was sober. "Jay get the rest of the money from your mom so this guy can leave now" Layne shoved his knee harder into the man shoulder blades. My mom got me the money and Layne liften the man to his feet, We walked to the door, the man trying to fight out of Layne's grip the entire way down the hallway, once we were at the door, I tossed the money outside and Layne shoved him out. "And don't ever come near here again" The door closed in his face. The house was silent again, there was another sound from my room. This time it was a bang. Layne grabbed my hand and we slowly went upstairs. He pushed my door open and turned the lights on. What we saw after was new. The window that i felt something watching me from was broken, one of the panes was completely shattered and the rest were cracked. There was also a huge dent in the drywall above my bed, it was oval in shape about two feet by a foot. I didn't feel anything watching me though, It felt like every other time i was in my room, the clock didn't even read 3:37. it was 4:14.

"What, the, hell." Layne was standing there shaking his head,"Has this ever happened before?" his head slowly turned to face me, I just shook my head, wide eyed and scared i wanted to curl into a ball and fall over. But I had my strength back. "We are going to my house" He walked into the room, being careful of the glass and grabbed his stuff, as well as clothes for me. I may have had my strength back but I was scared. Nothing of this magnitude has ever happened before.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day at school Layne stayed by my side. he didn't want me to be anywhere alone. He was starting to get a funny feeling about me not being able to sleep and things happening, like the clock, the feelings, and especially the window breaking. Every night its going a little farther. Whatever it is was pushing me farther breaking me down little by little, sleep deprivation, sanity, this was playing with my weeknesses. Layne rearranged his schedule so it matched mine,it was still early in the semester so teachers were used to the class lists changing daily,we had all the same classes anyway but now they are all in the same slots. The day started without a hinge. When it came to gym class, Layne convinced the teacher that I was sick so I didnt have to participate.I was stuck in the corner marking peoples participation sheets. Kids would pay me to give them good marks, I could make good money doing gym the football coach came in, and he really didn't seem happy. Either practice last night went terrible or he was pissed at Layne,

"Layne McDonald get your but over here now!" He screamed from the doors about 5 feet from me, I didn't want to look at him. His face reminded me of the man from last night. I shuddered. Layne looked at me with his peircing blue eyes as he ran over, his shirtless body gleamed with sweat, the sweat and the light caught his muscles in such a way that I couldnt stop starring. He trains hard to keep his body, he is very proud of it. He says it is the only thing in his life that he has acomplished and is worth showing off. I just plain like it. He shot me a 'here we go' look before the coach started laying into him. "Where the hell were you yesterday? You know what I dont even care! If you think that you are to good to practice with the team ou are surely mistaken! Or are you good for the team, then maybe you shouldnt be on the team!" My face dropped, you could probably scoop it off the floor, Layne's jaw dropped he was about to say something but was cut off. "I'm not going to kick you off the team, you are to good but if you don't show up for one more practice then you are in serious trouble and that might mean no scholarship" With that the couch left with a slam of the gym doors. The wake of the football coach was left for the whole gym to hear. Everyone was just looking over at him, he could handle the stares, I on the other hand couldnt.

"I told you to go" remorseful i patted the ground next to me, he reluctantly took it, he laid his head on my shoulder. "Just make sure you don't miss the next one" I rubbed his knee the best I could, A sigh escaped his lips, "It's ok. When is your next practice?" I tried to cheer him up but nothing would. The thought of him loosing his scholarship was to much for him to think about right now.

"It's tonight, at 9" His chin lifted to look at me, "but i don't want to leave you alone after what happened last night." his eyes expressed the worry that he could not get out in his tone. "I can't protect you if you're away from me" He would no longer look at me, and his voice was starting to crack, I dont know how he could protect me when we were together, but what ever it is doesn't like me not being on my own. I knew he was at his melting point with this. I only told him about this last night and he is this worried about it. This has been happening to me for 2 weeks and last night was the worst of it but it was bearable.

"Layne calm down okay, I will come to the practice, It's no big deal, We can even stay at your house again if you want to." He turned to look at me, with a somewhat smile.

"Are you sure?" He was still fighting back tears but he was happier now than he was 5 minutes ago. the sheet of uncertainty was lifting off his soulders. I knew that I couldn't be away from him, I knew that I needed him for support, and I just didn't want to leave his side. The teacher blew the whistle stating that class was over in 5 minutes. Layne didn't want to move. "I'm going to shower, you going to be here?" I just nodded and gave him a reassuring smile. A few minutes after Layne left Leanne came into the gym, she was in my english class, and my geography class, she was the first person to be nice to me when I moved back here, minus Layne. She was looking for someone,

"Hey Leanne" I stood from my spot on the wood floor. My body ached for being in the same position for an hour and a half.

"Jennifer! Come with me I need to show you something. You wont believe what it is!" I started to protest,

"Well I have to wait for Layne, I told him I would stay here"

"Oh dont worry nothing is going to happen to you!" She laughed and grabbed my and and started running out of the gym to the computer lab upstairs. I kept loking back towads the gym. I let out a big sigh, the look on Layne's face when he sees that I am gone will be horrific. Just from how he acted last night he didn't want me out of his sight. and now I am across the school and out of his reach. "Here you have to see this. Its like the computer is possessed!" She started to log on to the computer. Once everything was loaded she opened the internet and the computer started doing things on its own. Typing in a website all on its own, it was like something was controlling it. The website it went to had pictures of my house, and my room, taken through the broken window.

"But that only happened last night" I said barely audible. I was in shock. Was this all a sick joke? Was something actually happening? What was happening to me? I felt sick to my stomach.

"I wonder whose house this is" Leanne looked so intruiged about the pictures and the caption. There was even a little story.

_**The girl that lives here is slowly going insane. She claims that something unseen is waking her at night, that the clock gets stuck on 3:37, and that this "thing" comes in through the windows. I am not to sure of her mental state right now, but I am pretty sure that she is no longer legally sane. Maybe someone should take her to Parkwood! This picture here shows the windows that she thinks things look at her from. This one here was broken last night, she probably went crazy and threw something through it! Ha she claims that while not in her room something unseen broke it. What a nut... **_

__The story goes on but i couldnt read anymore. Now something was messing with me. The only other person that knows about this is Layne and he wouldn't write this about me, he was just as scared as I was last night. The lunch time anouncments started. Students started piling out of classrooms. I stayed in the computer lab with Leanne until the halls started to thin out. She was so intriged, she tried to show me things in the photos. She had no idea that, that was my life, my bedroom, my sanity that she was picking at. I tried not to pay attention. The announcements started to cut in and out, It was like something was interfering with the frequency. I shook it off. With the amount of cell phones in this school right now they could probably set off a nuclear missile accidently.

"Leanne I have to go, I'll catch you later" I got up without another word I was gone. I started running down the hals looking for Layne. After running through 2 hallways I still couldnt find him. Franticly I looked the school is only so big there are only somany places that he could be! I looked at my locker and his locker, I was starting to freak out. I am in the middle of my school I cant let it go here, wait until I find him. I kept running,

"Layne!" I yelled once I got to an open part of the halls, I kept searching, people were starting to look at me running circles. "Layne!" I yelled a little louder my voce paniced and worried, it stared to crack. I cant find him, I could feel the tears starting. I stopped running long enough to catch my breath. When I turned I almost ran into someone.

"Watch where you're going freak" Random stranger seemed very aggitated, or that could just be her normal, but I wouldnt know I have never even seen her before. Did she even go here?

"Jay" I heard my name coming down a hallway I didn't know which one though. I turned in a full circle deciding which hall to look in there were 4 that connected to this spot. "Jay!" It was more clear this time, I looked down each hallway to try and see him, I finally saw him running down the north hallway,

"Layne" I said to myself, I started to run towards him, he stopped before I did, I practically jumped into his arms. He was about to start crying, but I couldn't hold mine in anymore. I broke down in the hallway.

"Jay where the hell did you go?" Layne had his hand on the back of my head and was holding me up with the other one. I sobbed for a few minutes before I could even think about answering him. "Shh Jay it's okay, you just had me worried half to death." He leaned against the wall and slid down so he was sitting on the floor. We sat there, me crying, him almost crying, just holding each other.

"Have you told anyone anything that I have told you about the last couple of weeks?" I choked out through the light sobs, "I need to know the truth, if you have just tell me please" I was looking him right in the eyes, his icey blue eyes I could get lost in but I was all serious I needed to know the truth. He moved his hands so one was on each side of my face,

"Jay, I swear to you I haven't told anyone anything, what happened that you think I have?" His face went from sad to worried curious. I have to show him, he needs to know. I started to daze in and out. This was all getting to much for me. My brain was still functioning on very little sleep and now with this being on the internet that comes up when people open the internet on the computer. I was almost about to shut down. I pulled enough strength together to take him to the computer lab and show him. I logged onto the computer and once again the computer typed by itself, open programs by itself.. the only computer that could do this was the teachers computer. But we were the only ones here.

"Jay I promise I didnt tell anyone, I was with you the whole time"

"Layne I know you were, I just had to hear it. Im starting to get really worried. Because its not just at my house now, its at school to. What the hell is going on." I craddled my face in my hands when I felt his warm arms wrapped around my back. "I don't know how much more of this I can take" I was all cried out. Ive been crying for almost 2 days straight.

"Jay we will figure this out. You arent through this alone" He gave me a smile, and a loud bang came out of the hallway along with a disembodied blood curdeling scretch. The bang reminded me of last night, it sounded like the same thud, but I have never heard screams before. I started shaking when I noticed there was the same sized dent in the cinder block wall. I looked back to find Layne looking at me with the same expression I had on my face. Concern, worry, frustration, and panic.


	3. Chapter 3

There were so many emotions flashing across my eyes. One moment it was terror, the next it was worry, fright, confusion, or wonder. Layne couldn't stop pacing on the landing before the stairs. He was trying to figure it out by talking to himself.. with a lot of weird hand gestures. The rest of the day was spent with no concentration on what I was supposed to be doing. Any little noise that I heard made me jump. My thresh hold was once again getting shorter and shorter as the day goes on, but the end of fifth period I looked like a walking seizure. I tried to think over the last 2 weeks if anything had changed in what I had done, or what I found out. I couldn't think of anything different except the different guys my mom had every night. The guy from last night was the first one that wanted something from me though. I shuddered remembering the look on his face when he tried to come for me. I felt a hand on my back, it made me feel ice cold, but when I turned around the hall had almost cleared. The chilled feeling never left the spot on my back, it really hurt, it was almost like a burning sensation. I shook it off, grabbed my backpack and made my way to the practice field. Layne couldn't miss another practice or else he was kicked off the team and his scholarship was out the window. Before I went outside i put on my baseball cap, it was 27 degrees outside I would be crazy if I wore a sweater outside. Through the parking lot and across the soccer field I finally came to the bleachers of the practice field. Layne was already on the field running lines, the coach was pushing him harder than anyone else because he missed practice yesterday. I waved when he looked over my way, he stopped for a second to wave back, as he did he got tackled. I chuckled a little bit and pulled out my math homework. A few pages and a hundred questions later I was done. Eyes. The feeling was back, but this was a little different than the other times. This was coming from right behind me, not peeking around a corner or hiding in the trees. I turned my head enough to see all the way behind me and nothing was there. I had a moment of bravery and moved my arm behind me, exactly where i felt the eyes coming from as my arm passed over the spot a burning welt appeared in the shape of a hand. My back started to burn again the same time the welt on my arm started burning. I tried to keep from crying out but I couldn't contain it anymore. A loud grunt escaped from my throat, and I doubled over in pain, it felt like my back and my arm were being set on fire, I tried to compose myself by the time that Layne walked over with his bag slung over his shoulder.

"How was practice?" I sucked up the burning sensation long enough to spit out my question.

"Meh, felt a little uneasy about 10 minutes ago" Layne shrugged it off and sat down beside me. Ten minutes ago, that's when I felt the eyes. I moved my hand away from the welt on my arm and stuck it out in front of him.

"This happened 10 minutes ago" The sun made it burn some more, it was still bright red and stuck out. Layne grabbed my hand and examined my arm,

"Jay how did you get this?" I didn't respond yet, i lifted the back of my shirt high enough to reveal the bottom of the mark on my back. Layne grabbed my shirt and yanked it up farther, "Jay when did you get these?" His voice was stern, concerned.

"What does it look like?" I turned my head over my shoulder to look at him,

"It looks exactly like your arm but the welt is bigger" He put his hands on my shoulders to spin me around, His warm hands found my face once again, he leaned forward to touch his forehead to mine. Almost whispering all I could see was his eyes, "Jay please tell me now"

"The one on my back happened in the hallway by my locker before I came here. This one happened about 10 minutes ago. I felt like someone was looking at me so I turned around and found it empty like every other time. I waved my arm behind me and in the exact spot that I felt the eyes this appeared. It was almost instant, I went over that spot and the next second I had a welt and my arm and my back started to burn." The burning started to dissipate a little but the tingling came back, it felt like my arm was numb and the blood was coming back but it didn't go away after a few minutes. On the way back to my truck Layne's mom called and told him that he had to come home. He reluctantly complied,

"Ok, I don't want to do this but I have to leave you. I will go home find out what my mom needs and I will come straight to your house after okay?" Questioning eyes was enough of a facial expression for me. I just nodded, i had nothing to say, I was going home alone. What if something happened? What if my mom already had another guy there? I shook my head to clear the questions.

"Just call me when you know what's going on. I'll call you if anything drastic happens." He pulled me close to him for a hug, he was all sweaty and smelled really bad but I didn't want to let him go because I knew that meant he was leaving me alone. I tried to hold on as long as I could but eventually I did need fresh air. A small wave was all I gave him, I didn't want to say anything else.

The drive home was uneventful for the 10 minutes that it took. Pulling into the drive way I noticed that my window was fixed. My mom couldn't have fixed it, she hasn't been sober enough in 4 years to even walk up the stairs let alone fix a broken window. When I walked into the living room there she was, sleeping on her side on the pull out bed. One arm and leg off the edge with the blankets only half on her, at least I know where I got my sleep positions from. That made a small smile come upon my face, I laughed a little as I walked up the stairs to try and lighten my worried mind. My bed room looked the same except there was no glass on the floor, I looked above my bed where the dent was still in the wall. I remembered the sound that came before we found the dent. I shook it out of my head,

"Jay stop it. Think happy thoughts" I told my self over and over. I tried to find something to keep me busy but my homework was already done, and my window was already fixed. The only thing I could think of was clean the broken bottles from the kitchen. I made my way down to the kitchen, every thing seemed normal, but it was also 2:30 in the afternoon and still very much daylight outside. I completely let it go trying to push the thoughts out of my mind that something was wrong, or that I was in danger. I rounded the corner to the kitchen and just stood in the doorway, a loud sigh escaped my lips this was going to take me a while. The glass crunched under my shoes, I had to walk through the entire kitchen in order to get to the broom closet. Bottle by bottle the kitchen started to look like its old self, the hardwood floors, rustic cupboards, with some new scratches in them. cleaning the floor is the worst, all the wine is dried into the floor and its sticky so it keep catching the mop. I grunted as i pushed the mop across the floor, this was starting to hurt my arms, it was more of a work out than gym class. I was starting to have some fun with it, I was using the mop as a microphone and I started to sing what ever songs popped into my head. It went from oldies to pop, punk, to musicals. When I started dancing I was laughing at myself now. I had my back to the doorway and was dancing my little heart out.

"Wow", I almost had a heart attack when I heard his voice come from behind me, I spun myself around so fast my heart almost jumped out of my chest. Layne was leaning in the doorway almost laughing. "Looks like you are having fun... Should I come back another time?" His smile grew wider, I dropped the broom and hoped over to him and threw my arms around his neck,

"No you should stay right here." I gave him a small kiss on the cheek and released my grip. "What did your mom want?" I fixed his hair while I waited for his answer. He seemed to take a long time, it could have just been me though, it was like whenever I saw him I got high off him. Even in light of what has happened to me the last couple of weeks, seeing his face still made me extremely happy. If I didn't have him I don't know how I would be getting through any of this. I looked over at my arm, the hand print was still there but no longer hurt.

"She needed me to move some furniture around, she is redoing her bedroom, and the living room, and the basement... Lets just say she is redoing the whole house." Layne just smiled, "Do you want some help?" he gestured towards the floor, I handed him the mop and I grabbed a washcloth for the cupboards.

By the time we were done cleaning it was about 5. Supper was my next thought, I haven't eaten all day and I know Layne is always hungry. It has been hours now since I have heard anything or felt anything, maybe it is starting to go away. Thud. Maybe I thought to soon, this one sounded like it came from the living room... I looked at Layne, his eyes were getting bigger by the second.

"Mom" I dropped everything I was holding and ran to the living room, I couldn't see her on the bed anymore, I quickly looked around the rest of the room and didn't see her anywhere else. I went to the side of the couch and finally found her.. She rolled off the bed. I let out a huge sigh and just looked at Layne and started laughing. Anything that happens right now I would probably just laugh at, I am in such a good mood, nothing could bring me down. The last couple hours of daylight had nothing eventful. Nothing happened, once we put mom back on the bed my bedroom was where we resided. Watching movies and playing silly games with each other trying to keep on another preoccupied. Layne knew that the longer he kept me preoccupied once the sun went down the faster the night would go by. The silly things he did to keep my attention on him, trying to stand on his head, trying to be a magician, singing karaoke. I haven't laughed this much in the last couple of months let alone the last few weeks. I looked over at the clock in between Layne's magic show, against all the good things that had happened today the clock was once again my nemesis. 3:37. A shocked grunt flowed out of my mouth, Layne stopped what he was doing, he saw me looking at the clock and didn't ask any questions just moved over beside me and grabbed my hand. He moved my eyes away from the clock and back to his face.

"Just look at me, don't think about it Jay" His arm on my back was warm on my now cold body. As soon as I saw the clock it was like I went from tropical paradise to Welcome to Canada! As soon as I get scared or worried all the heat from my body just seems to evaporate into the air, but it just gets colder it doesn't linger around. Layne put on another movie to try and distract me. I had so many things going through my head that it felt like a train going through my brain. The sights the weird sounds, the broken window everything just flashed right before my eyes. Layne was right in front of me and I could no longer see him, it was like a home movie playing in my head that I wanted so badly to stop. I blinked a few times and the last time my eyes just didn't open. My mind went blank and I was passed out.


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N - Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been really busy! :( Please review any encouragement would be great 3 **_

*My eyes fluttered open trying to quickly adjust with the light that was coming in from the window. I really didn't want to get up I threw a pillow over my head. I hear someone walking down the hall. I couldn't tell who it was though, my door was open and yet I still could not tell who was walking around. My mother? A random? Something else? A sigh escaped my throat, the pillow fell from my head as I slowly got to my feet from my bed. The thudding of my feet dragging on the ground was a signal to whoever was walking around that I was awake now. The railing going down the hall was my crutch as my legs started to adjust to my weight once again. It feels like I have bee sleeping for days, when really it has only been about 7 hours.

"Mom?" I called down the hallway hoping to get an answer from her. ... Nothing, not even a sound, no floor boards creaking, no birds outside nothing. Everything seemed to die all at once. The hallway felt like it was getting longer with every step that I took towards the end of it. Never ending. When I finally got to my moms door, there she was just sitting on the bed starring at her feet. Slowly, cautiously I walked over to her side, her shoulder felt like ice when I touched it. With a little shake she moved her head a little but not much. "Mom are you okay?" I knelt down to look at her face,I could tell when she was feeling if I could see her face. I brushed her hair behind her ear and moved in some more to look at her face. A low growl came from her. Her entire body was still, nothing moved, not her chest her eyes, nothing. It was so surprising to me that i let her shoulder go and fell backwards. I was frozen on the floor with a puzzled look on my face, I wanted to question it but I couldn't speak, no sounds would come out. Al I could hear was my own heartbeat and breath. At least I was still breathing, I couldn't hear my mom's heartbeat but I could see her pulse in the artery on her neck, at least she is still alive. Standing was a bad idea I figured, I didn't know what that was but I didn't want to startle her or make her angry. I have never heard my mother do that before. Even when she was really angry and yelling at other people she has never done that. Once I finished inching out of her room I got up. I tried not to look in as much as I wanted to, I walked back down the hall, this time it felt like it took 2 steps and I was already at the stairs. I shook my head, this was starting to feel like every other day but that clock was different. The kitchen was where I found myself, I started to make some breakfast when there was a knock a the door, as soon as I turned from the kitchen the feeling of eyes digging into my back made my arm twitch up to rub my shoulder. There was no one at the door when I got to it, but there was a package sitting on the front step. It was addressed to Layne, Layne doesn't live here, who would send him a package here? This was just a little to weird. I pulled out my phone and started to dial his number.

"Hey Hun, can you come over please, I really need to get out of this house, I think I'm starting to see things, its driving me crazy!" I let out a little chuckle, I have always been crazy so it was nothing new for him to deal with. "Thank you so much Hun, I will see you in a few minutes." with my phone back in my pocket and package in hand the kitchen was my return destination. My toast and bacon was done, now I just needed to cut up the tomatoes and I had myself breakfast! I couldn't wait I was starving, I couldn't remember the last time I ate an actual meal.

When Layne strolled into the kitchen the mood in the room felt like it instantly lifted. It was as if everything negative that I was feeling just went away, was no longer on my shoulders. It was just the feeling that I needed for this morning that I have had so far.

"You have a package" Half with food in my mouth I pointed to the box that was sitting on the table, his eyebrows crinkled together and looked very confused,

"Who would send something here? This doesn't even have a return address on it" He must have looked on every side of the box multiple times before he put it down. There was no sound of anything moving around in it. Whatever is in there must be packed very well. "Who gave this to you?" His eyes turned to me and I almost melted, they were curious, confused and beautiful. Just having him look my in the eyes made a shiver go up my spine, but it wasn't a nice sensation, it was cold, it felt like it didn't belong in the moment. Once again my hand found my shoulder and brushed off my back. I bit my lip and looked away from his gaze, it was making me feel uncomfortable. He seemed upset. There was a thump from upstairs. Mom. I turned back to Layne and we had the same looks on our faces, we ran upstairs practically on top of each other. He ran to my room thinking it was there, I ran to my moms room knowing that's where it came from. When I got there she was on the floor. On my knees so fast I didn't even notice the carpet burn, I pulled her head up on my lap,

"Mom!" I grabbed her chin and pointed it to the ceiling, her eyes were still open, which scared me, "Mom can you say something" Layne was beside me in a matter of seconds and was panicking.

"What happened?" He grabbed her wrist to check for a pulse.

" I don't know, I was downstairs with you and before that when i came to check on her she growled at me and wouldn't respond to me so I left her and was downstairs until now!" So many things were going through my mind, was my mom overdosing? Was she just on a bad trip? Was her psychosis coming back? What was happening with her I wanted to know. When Layne finally found her pulse it was really low.

"We have to get her on the bed" I had one of her arms and Layne had the other and we lifted her to the middle of the bed so we had room to sit on either side of her. She was still unresponsive, what was going on? I sucked back a sob and tried to get my mother to even look at me. Her eyes were just black, her pupils were so dilated that you couldn't see her iris anymore, it was empty, soulless. Layne ran downstairs to get something from his back pack. As soon as he left the room my mothers head slowly turned towards me, above and below her eyes started to grey, and slowly turned black, it startled me so much I stood and backed away almost tripping over my feet. I backed into the closet door. I gripped the handle to try and keep me up.

"Mom" My voice was so shaky it almost didn't come out audible. Her body snapped up and her empty eyes just looked at me, it was like she was pulled off the bed on wires. Her legs didn't move and she was standing right in front of me. I sucked back tears that were starting to form in my eyes. Her hand moved up her side away from her body until it was right across from my face. every time she moved I winced thinking she was going to hit me. Her cold hand flashed towards me and her cold fingers grasped around my neck, it hit me with enough force that I almost lost my breath, I let out a small shriek. I could hear Layne from downstairs yell my name and then thudding up the stairs. About halfway down the hall my moms head shot towards the door and it shut on its own. By just her looking at it, she closed it, I could no longer fight the tears they started to flow down my face. Her grip slowly started to get tighter, her jaw dropped slowly, but there it should have stopped that line that a human should not be able to surpass she was doing effortlessly. I grabbed her wrist with my hand to try and get her to let go. What is going on? M mind was racing, My first thought was, Is she going to kill me? then my thoughts turned to Layne, please come save me. I have started to rely on him saving me. My mothers face started getting closer and closer, I used my free hand to push her face away, when that didn't work I panicked and slapped her. "Mom I'm so sorry, please stop, please stop" I cried with the little voice that I now had. I slapped her again, The growling started again, from deep in her chest this time, it sounded like it was coming from a big cat, nothing like a human could sound like. "Layne!" I screamed.

"Jay open the door" He was banging on it so hard the hinges were unscrewing themselves. "Jay" His voice shared the worry that his face could not. I heard him run down the hall and take a running start at the door. As soon as he hit the door my mother just went limp, her hand was no longer at my throat, the growling sound had vanished, and I was left standing there gasping for air, this all happened so fast my brain almost couldn't keep up. The door fell into the room a couple of feet, I looked over and Layne was running over it, "Jay" He ran to me, he didn't even look at my mother who was motionless on the floor, "What the hell happened?" His hands were on either side of my face and his forehead against mine. I just breathed a couple times before even thinking about saying anything.

"You walked out the door and my mom... Her eyes... Black... She flew, like flew out of the bed and... Her jaw... Choking me. Holy shit" That was the best explanation that I could come up with. I let him go and looked down at my mom, I dropped to my knees and turned her over. Her eyes were closed, normal color, her jaw was closed, not dislocated, he skin was normal temperature. Layne checked her pulse and it was normal. He grabbed her and put her back on the bed.

"Ok we are getting you out of this house before something else happens" He was serious, his eyes were stern yet loving, his expression showed worry yet his voice was steady. I didn't bother with clothes this time, Layne's grip on my hand wasn't showing any signs of loosening up anytime soon, we walked down the street towards his house. The first person we passed on the street had the same eyes my mom had, no iris, just black, looking like a raccoon with black bands on their eyes. I whipped my head into Layne's shoulder and clutched his arm. The next person the same thing, raccoon banded eyes, the next couple people the same, the growling sound started to come out of the next few. When we were at the intersection waiting for the light the person beside me started to look at me with those soulless eyes, just empty blackness, when her jaw started to slowly move down I let out a scream and started to run across the street. Once on the other side Layne grabbed my shoulder and swung me around so I was facing him. I tried to fight it, when the person next to me already had her mouth open and was starting to slowly move towards me, I looked back at Layne,

"Please make it stop" Tears started seeping out of my eyes again,

"Make what stop?" Layne couldn't see what I saw, they were just normal people to him, When I opened my eyes Layne's eyes weren't icy blue anymore, they were getting darker by the second, turning black, the back soon showed on his face. My body started trembling. My eyes closed and I just went limp*

_Jay_. My name echoed in my head.

_Jay_. It was louder this time, I felt a hand on my shoulder. When my eyes peeled open I saw Layne's face, I screamed and as fast as I could backed away from him.

"Jay its ok, you're fine" He moved closer and I held up my foot to stop him, "You are okay, it was Just a dream" As soon as I heard the word dream I started crying and lunged at him to hug him and cry into his shoulder.


End file.
